Sibling writer-director duo The Wachowskis follow-up Cloud Atlas with preposterous and flavourless sci-fi fantasy Jupiter Ascending. Jupiter (Mila Kunis), a resentful maid, discovers she’s a reincarnated otherworldly space princess who – with the help of interplanetary warrior Caine (Channing Tatum) – must stop a tyrannical leader from harvesting Earth. Continue reading “Review: Jupiter Ascending (2014)”
Bennett Miller’s follow-up to Moneyball is a meticulously crafted, errie, yet ultimately laborious and obscure drama. Forever living in his brother’s shadow, former Olympic winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) enters into an intense and destructive partnership with millionaire John Du Pont (Steve Carell). Continue reading “Review: Foxcatcher (2014)”
Experienced animator Jorge R. Gutierrez teams up with fan-favourite producer Guillermo Del Toro for his directorial debut The Book Of Life, a visually dazzling but regrettably stale spin on the Mexican holiday Day Of The Dead. Best friends Manola (Diego Luna) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) have one thing in common: their love for Maria (Zoe Saldana). Using their differing skills, they duke it out for Maria’s affection under the watchful eyes of Xibalba and La Muerta, two powerful mythical entities with an age-old score to settle. Continue reading “Review: The Book Of Life (2014)”
After briefly sidestepping into more artsy territory with the widely panned Anonymous, Roland Emmerich comes back full force with White House Down, an over-the-top explosion-fest that flopped spectacularly upon its release in America. It’s dumb and predictable, sure, but unlike Olympus Has Fallen, this year’s other White House-set Die Hard parody, White House Down embraces its ridiculousness – a feat that mostly works in its favour. Continue reading “Review: White House Down (2013)”
Though G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra was considered by many to be a complete and utter write-off, it also had a cartoonish and flippant sensibility that resulted in a decent box office haul, making its sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, inevitable. The sequel, however, which finds new director Jon M. Chu and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick attempt to overhaul the series, loses that camp buffoonery and replaces it with an all-too serious military realism that’s sluggish and irritating. Continue reading “Review: G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)”
Steven Soderbergh’s swan song (his Liberace biopic Behind The Candelabra will air on HBO later this year) sees the esteemed director re-team with Contagion screenwriter Scott Z. Burns for a taut, artistic and unsettling psychological thriller set against the world of mental health. It is a place where abhorrent pharmaceutical industries are benefitting from modern societies increasing reliance on anti-depressants, regardless of their destructive and addictive side effects. Continue reading “GFF 2013 Review: Side Effects (2013)”
Mike (Channing Tatum) is a thirty-year-old entrepreneur, furniture designer and contractor who, at night, transformers into his stripping persona Magic Mike. When he sees potential in fellow construction worker Adam (Alex Pettyfer) he takes him under his wing and introduces him to a life he never thought possible – one fuelled by eroticised dance numbers, non-stop partying and female adoration. However, Mike’s had enough, but his attempts to move away from Continue reading “Review: Magic Mike (2012)”
Warner Bros. Pictures have released the first official trailer and poster for Magic Mike, an exposé of actor Channing Tatum’s former life as a male stripper.
Directed by soon-to-be-retired Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven), Magic Mike stars Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Riley Keough.
The film, scripted by relative newcomer Reid Carolin (Earth Made of Glass), Continue reading “Magic Mike Poster And Trailer”
When best friends Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) realise that they’re out of their policing depth even as park officers, the former high-school enemies are assigned to a newly revived undercover division on 21 Jump Street, spearheaded by Captain Dickson (Ice Cube). The death of a careless teenager, Billiam (Johnny Simmons), reveals the spread of a new drug at the local school, prompting Schmidt and Jenko back to class as “teenagers”, to infiltrate and put an end to the drug ring before anyone else is hurt.
Taking its name and supposedly many of the sensibilities from the cult 1980’s TV series, 21 Jump Street is every bit as hysterical, crude, action-packed and self- Continue reading “Review: 21 Jump Street (2012)”
Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are happily married and very much in love. When a car accident puts Paige in a coma, she wakes up without any recollection of her relationship with Leo. Doing his best to cope with the unfortunate situation and escalating distance between them, Leo battles obstacles (an ex-boyfriend and possessive parents) to remind her of the love they once shared in a bid to win her back.
Predicated upon the complexities and emotional resonance contained within the extraordinary events, The Vow, for the most part, breaks from the typical Continue reading “Review: The Vow (2011)”
Empty Screens 